Renewed interest

[eclark53520]

Anybody into building spudguns?

I built one about three years ago with my neighbor....i shoot it every now and then...its real simple and it uses a grill ignitor(cheap and easy), i use propane as fuel, and either those foam practice golf balls or potatoes as projectiles

I just found a website dedicated to the things and i have all sorts of new ideas...

-Metered Propane injection
-Stun gun powered 4(or more?) spark ignition system
-Combustion chamber fan to exhaust spent gases and mix new air/fuel mixture properly
-Quick release barrel system(one for tennis balls, golf balls, spuds, maybe some rifled PVC)
-Over/under design to save length with the barrel attached


Anyone else dable in the home-made connons?

 

[msduckland]

Just dont hit my car!
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[Clugnut]

Good times with spud guns. I built a few back in the day. Screwed around with collapsible barrels, piezo electric ignition, and the like. Fun stuff. My parents always encouraged me in things like this. My dad was always like "If he's into cars and potato guns, he's not partying and doing drugs." My first one was still the best. I could always shoot a spud forever with that thing.

 

[MIKE1218]

I've got a couple, haven't played with them in a long time though. The first one I ever built put a fist sized dent in the Weber grill and knocked it flying.

I kind of lost interest after I saw somebody spray a bunch of ether in. Fail...

 

[eclark53520]

I've got a couple, haven't played with them in a long time though. The first one I ever built put a fist sized dent in the Weber grill and knocked it flying.

I kind of lost interest after I saw somebody spray a bunch of ether in. Fail...

Yeah, i am not a big fan of 'guessing' when it comes to these things....

I use propane because even at a 100% burn rate(which is very hard to get) PVC pipe can hold the pressure no problem. When it comes to all those other fuels i have not done the research nor the testing so i dont use them.

Just need to start sourcing parts now

 

[bames]

Ooooohhhh have I. My dad owns an irrigation company. We have everything from 1/2" to 24" pipe and fittings at our disposal. I've made an honest attempt to shoot just about anything imaginable out of a plastic pipe. I keep one at my mother in law's house in Colorado and shoot pesky deer out of her yard. Huh, I guess I haven't grown up have I.

What gets much more interesting is when you get bored with plastic pipe and move on to steel. Then you can use aceteylene as your combustion material and use cans filled with sand as your bullets. Now thats fun.

 

[MIKE1218]

I still think my trebuchet is way cooler than any of the spudguns I've built.

I'm still trying to get the sling length nailed down, but right now it throws 1/2 a brick about 200 feet.

The neighbors told me they hope they never have to go to war with me lol.

 

[zaphod]

I still think my trebuchet is way cooler than any of the spudguns I've built.

I'm still trying to get the sling length nailed down, but right now it throws 1/2 a brick about 200 feet.

The neighbors told me they hope they never have to go to war with me lol.

Can you post pics sometime. I'm thinking about building a throwing thing (trebuchet) too.
Trebs have a Neanderthal aura that attracts me.

 

[MIKE1218]

Certainly. Garage door springs instead of a counterweight. 240lbs as of right now, I'm thinking of picking up two 150lb springs instead though.

 

[zaphod]

Certainly. Garage door springs instead of a counterweight. 240lbs as of right now, I'm thinking of picking up two 150lb springs instead though.

a mobile "A" frame. Any particular species of wood? Was there a reason you went with spring rather than dead weight. Kind of a cross breed between a catapult engine with a treb frame. Was the trigger hard to work out?
I realize the sling design takes some experimentation but sounds like fun.

Looks VERY KOOL Jake.

 

[MIKE1218]

Just good old 2x4, 4X4 and a 2X6 for the arm. I decided to go with the springs merely to save weight. Don't have to lug around a 300lb counterweight, you know?

Honestly, my 'trigger' at the moment consists of trying to hold down the arm then dodging out of the way. I had a quickrelease set up using a rope; pull down the arm, tie the rope to hold it down, and pull the quickrealease string at your leisure. But it kept getting stuck; I think it was too light duty for my purposes. If I find a suitable quickrelease I will put it to use, but until I upgrade the springs doing it by hand works fine.

The sling design is quite tricky actually. Too long and the projectile has a low launch angle. Too short, and the opposite is true. The sling itself has to be large enough to cradle the projectile but small enough to allow it to launch without tangling in the fabric. I've ripped a couple bricks through doubled up canvas already. That's pretty exciting.

 

[zaphod]

Just good old 2x4, 4X4 and a 2X6 for the arm. I decided to go with the springs merely to save weight. Don't have to lug around a 300lb counterweight, you know?

Honestly, my 'trigger' at the moment consists of trying to hold down the arm then dodging out of the way. I had a quickrelease set up using a rope; pull down the arm, tie the rope to hold it down, and pull the quickrealease string at your leisure. But it kept getting stuck; I think it was too light duty for my purposes. If I find a suitable quickrelease I will put it to use, but until I upgrade the springs doing it by hand works fine.

The sling design is quite tricky actually. Too long and the projectile has a low launch angle. Too short, and the opposite is true. The sling itself has to be large enough to cradle the projectile but small enough to allow it to launch without tangling in the fabric. I've ripped a couple bricks through doubled up canvas already. That's pretty exciting.

I've got a summer project!!!!! Putting divots in the lawn 100' to 300' away is a real possibility.

http://trebuchet.com
Medium Trebuchet

Keep rockin' Mr. Mike

 

[warbirdlover]

Soon you all are going to progress to.... compound bows!!!

 

[Wi-Golfer]

Soon you all are going to progress to.... compound bows!!!

Literally have mine hanging up next to my desk, older Bear model.

 

[zaphod]

Soon you all are going to progress to.... compound bows!!!

The Roman empire called those Ballista Ballista - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Think you could skewer a whitetail with this??????